News in Brief Earth

Massive magma pool found deep below Yellowstone

Discovery explains why supervolcano exhales so much carbon dioxide, but doesn’t up risk of eruption

Yellowstone's magma reservoir

HOT STUFF   Scientists have spotted a massive magma reservoir buried deep inside the Yellowstone supervolcano, connecting the mantle plume that fuels the volcanic system to a smaller magma chamber closer to the surface.

H.-H. Huang et al/Science 2015

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

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Every day, the supervolcano lurking under Yellowstone National Park belches up 45,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide — much more than could be produced by the known magma chamber that lies just below the surface.